Forsaken Tenshi
by Montik
Summary: Kagome's journey towards immortality. A story of love stretching across time. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and hindsight is always 20/20. ALERt Chapter 5 is the new chapter and was added after I finished the story ALERT
1. Chapter 1

"When will you come to visit again?" The young girl with hair like the night sky asked the figure standing before her.

"Rin has decided to stay in the village", the figure answered vaguely. His voice was measured and monotone making the meaning behind his words all the more harsh.

"You will still come to visit?" The girl took in a long pause holding a breath as she held on to her hope that what she was thinking wouldn't be true. He looked down at her with his intense golden stare. His eyes slightly glassed over... with sadness? Or regret? She thought those might be it. "Won't you?" Her voice quivered as she knew his answer and her last bit of hope was gone.

Silver hair danced on the wind as he shook his head in the negative. His eyes closed against the sad cerulean gaze directed at him. He knew it would break him and he would not be able to go.

"I will not be returning." His deep voice rang in the air as the words themselves cut like daggers through the peaceful atmosphere of the forest.

She turned her eyes to the grass, not willing to let him see the tears now obscuring her vision. She had a good idea as to why he would leave now. She should have known all along, but she let herself have a fools hope.

"Is it because.. I'm.. I'm hu..", the words caught in her throat. She didn't want to say it but she had to. She had to know. "Human?" She said the last word quickly. Like taking off the band-aid fast so it only hurt for a second. Though she still couldn't escape the slight stinging aftermath of her own words.

What was he to tell her? The truth.. That he would do this for her so she could move on with her life and be happy. So she could find a love who would love her truly and give her everything she deserved. So she would be able to have children and love them. So she could grow old with someone. To watch her children grow into adulthood.

If she stayed with him she would be alone. Only her few friends would still accept her. He wouldn't give her the dishonor of having hanyou children. She would spend her life defending them against naysayers. And in turn she would have to defend herself for her choice of being with a demon. Yes, he would be there as much as he could. But he had lands to defend and he couldn't be there every moment.

He would not make her life terrible just so he would have the happiness of knowing such a pure being was so devoted to him. He would not take that from her to give himself that speck of light in his long and dark life.

For all of the unselfish reasons he had not to see her anymore, he would allow himself to admit the few selfish ones he had as well.

He didn't want to watch her grow old. He didn't want to see her drift away with time and become weak before his eyes. He couldn't bear to see it while he stayed young and eternal. And he couldn't bear to see the resentment in her eyes that she would hold for him because of it.

So for all of the good reasons he had he could do this. He could walk away. But he knew if he told her the truth she would throw his words away and bear all of those pains for him.

She wouldn't have children so he wouldn't have the dishonor of having hanyou (even though in truth he himself would be honored to have children born from her). She would alienate herself from her kind to give him her light. Her unselfish nature would allow her to do this. But he could not do it. He would hate himself for ruining her.

So he would give her the short painful answer rather than the proper explanation. For her own good he would do this. All of these problems did directly stem from their difference in species. He didn't resent her for being human, but it still had to be done. He would say it and he knew it would hurt her.

Maybe she would hate him for it? It would make it easier to move on. Alas... she wouldn't, she was too kind to hate anyone. He hated doing this. But it had to be done.

"Yes."

There it was. The damning word. Whoever knew one word could hold so much emotion, and meaning, and so much pain. It must have hurt them more than 'Sit' ever would. Even as her heart was broken in the clutch of his poison claws she still wouldn't hate him. Damn her kind nature.

He watched as she stood before him in silence. Her slender fingers clutching onto the long sleeves of her miko garb as if to keep her hands busy and not grab onto him. She gave the most minute nod of her head, still not loooking up at him, before she turned and slowly walked off into the forest.

She couldn't bear to watch him leave so she would simply leave first. And he had to watch her go instead.

Saddened golden eyes watched as the billowy green hakama receded into the branches of the woodsy foliage, blending and then dissapearing. Soon the sounds of her footsteps were out of his range of sensing. Her sweet scent lingered in the gentle breeze around him, haunting him as he tried to gather the nerve to move his feet.

He wondered vaguely why she didn't cry. He could tell she wanted to, but even as she turned from him and left he could not detect the scent of the stinging salty substance in the air. He watched in a trance as one of his black-booted feet raised itself and slid over the dewey morning grass, turning his body away from the forest.

"Good bye... Kagome", his soft whispered was carried away on the wind.

His reverie was broken by the familar sound of two-toed impish feet slapping on the cool ground not far fromm where he stood. A cold golden stare whipped around to pin the imp in his place.

The intruder immediately cowered. Bulbus yellow eyes bulging from their sockets in fear.

"I... I did not watch milord. You h..have my word. I merely just arrived. I wouldn't dare to attempt eavesdropping on you!"

To his relief the glare was turned from him onto the path ahead. The figure clad in white and red began on the path away fromo the village, never to return. But not before taking one last look at the forest from the corner of his eyes. He had the strangest foreboding feeling. 


	2. Chapter 2

Kagome walked, beating her own path through the thick forest, deep in thought. She could guess his reasons for leaving as he had. Well, at least she could if he was truly the person she had come to know over the years since she had returned. She could have been wrong, he could have been the person they thought him to be from the begining. But dammit! She wasn't [i]that[i/] bad of a judge of character! She may have been naive sometimes, but she wasn't stupid and she did have a good sixth sense about people.

So she couldn't be wrong. Sesshoumaru couldn't be cold and callous. In conclusion, he must have left to save her. Of all the misguided chivalry he could use to come to this solution! What was she to do? Find a human man to marry? As if she could, the poor man would be forever held up to the image of her perfection, and forever be found wanting in her eyes. Was she to find demon or hanyou to spend her days with then? Another big 'pfft!' in the face of that idea. She would either still hold them up to his image and they would never stand up to it, or he would simply come and kill them because they would cause her all of the same problems he had left her to avoid.

It isn't as if she could turn into a demon for him. Not that she would think twice if there was a way she could, she would do that for him in a hearbeat. An eternity with him would be perfect.

But there wasn't a way to do it so no sense dwelling on the subject... again. Well that wasn't exactly true. Was it? Naraku became a hanyou to be with kikyou. Not that his plan worked out very well, and the idea of having her flesh devoured wasn't the most savory. But he didn't have spiritual power at his disposal either.

Spiritual power was a sort of polar opposite to demonic energy. Maybe it could be used in a similar to create immortality? Or was it merely the failings of the human body and energy had something to do with it. In that case could the spiritual energy be used to create a new vessel for a soul, one that was more resiliant and like a demon's body? Had anyone even ever tried it before? Well due to the nature of those with spiritual and their lack of want for personal gain she would have to think the circumstances to attempt such a feat would be very scarce indeed.

There was another kink in the chain of this plan. The only way she knew of to loose a soul from it's current vessel would be to destroy said vessel. Doing so left very little room error and her plan was still simply theory.

She stopped on her path. Turning with unseeing eyes, still deep in thought, towards the way she came from. What did she have to loose now in trying? She didn't have to guard the shikon anymore. She didn't need to be the village's miko, a replacement could be easily found. She had no duties, and the prospects of marriage and children had already been thrown out. And she really didn't want to go back and be showered with pity for her loss.

So be it. She turned resolutely to continue on her path, determined to test her theory and see it through. Only now did she notice where she was. She had nearly walked herself strait into a lake, she was so lost in thought. She stood a mere five feet from the calm water's edge.

Now she knew there were no lakes this large nearby. Just how long had she been walking? Out of reflex and curiousity as to the time of day she turned her head towards the sky. No sun? Everything was all dark, with little stars. Her eyes widened slightly. She had walked in her stupor from early that morning strait past nightfall!

She sighed and looked around and her calm surroundings. What was she to do now? It was dark, she wasn't sure how she got here, it would take a whole day to get back, and these were dangerous and unfamiliar territories to be staying the night in without supplies. Wait now, what was she thinking? She had just moments before decided upon a plan that essentially required her death. There was no going back and there was no surviving to worry about.

As she gazed out over the water onto the opposite shore following it's sandy line back to herself and then circling back to the same point again she made a decision. This would be fitting resting place for the body that had served her so well over the last twenty-four years. And for herself if everything went wrong. But now wasn't a time to think about such things, one needed to be optimistic for such endeavors.

She walked to the waters edge, waded in to the warm depths up to her waist, and dove down into the deep dark water. The only evidence of her passing the tiny ripples making their way to the shore on the otherwise placid surface of the lake.

OOO

Kami how he felt like an idiot. He had walked not but two hours from where he had left her and he felt more tired than if he hadn't rested for two months. He had gone just off the path into the forest and laid his weary head back against the largest trunk he could find to try and push away his traiterous thoughts. He wasn't not leaving because it hurt or he loved her. He was just staying because he was tired and didn't want to walk any longer, and maybe because he wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to watch over her and Rin just a little longer, to know they were safe and that he was in a fair distance to come to their aid should they need it.

There he still sat the next morning as dawn broke. And there he sat hours later, not quite being able to get up and leave just yet. As he sat once again mentally going through the reasons as to why he should leave, a tiny voice on the wind broke his train of thought...

"Kagome..."

He inwardly cursed. Now either even the the Kami were mad at him and sending him messages, or he was hallucinating. Neither was a good sign.

"Kagomeee?"

There it was again. But a little louder this time. Why did it sound so familiar now?

"Kagome?"

The voice sounded but a hesitant squeak now. Resigned undertones hiding behind a youthful feminine voice. His curiousity peaked he turned his gaze through the bush shielding him from the view of the road just in time to see his bumbling impish retainer skitter out to meet his previous ward.

"Rin! You silly little girl! What are you doing so far from the village all alone? and alerting every predator for miles with your infernal shouting!", the little imp quickly proceeded in berating the girl for her foolish antics.

She seemed to take it in stride and ignore it as she was used to such speeches from Jaken. "Master Jaken! Have you seen Lady Kagome? she left yesterday morning with Lord Sesshoumaru and has yet to return. I'm worried about her, normally she isn't gone so long."

The well hidden, peeping demon lord watched his retainer sputter in response. A knot formed in his throat and he clenched his teeth as he thought of what could have kept her for so long after she had parted from him. She had wandered off into the woods, he had assumed she merely needed time alone but what if something had gotten to her before she could return. What if he had been too lost in his own thoughts to hear when she had cried out for his aid.

Cursing himself inwardly he gracefully stood from his place and swiftly moved off to where he had last seen Kagome, hoping to track her from there and save her from whatever plight she had gotten herself into. All his unknowing companions saw was a rustling in the trees and a flash of white before he was gone.

OOO

Kagome sat before her former body. Deep beneath the surface of the water. She had swam to the sandy bottom in the very center of the lake the night before. She vaguely remembered now how she had wrestled the large stone atop her chest to hold herself in place incase her resolve wavered. Nonetheless the sickening sensation of suffocating on not only the lack of air but the extreme weight of the water's depth crushing her chest and asphyxiating her would probably never be forgotten. If this worked it would all be worth it in the end, she supposed.

She couldn't really see things the way she was now. She only vaguely knew she was sitting over her dead body from memory of it's surroundings and placement. All she had was spiritual senses, but they seemed to be heightened. She could sense the energy of even the smallest of bait fish and tiny plants. It was similar to seeing, for she could watch their auras.

She was ever so slowly begining to gather her discarded energy back to create her new body. Though at this rate it seemed as though it would take years. The small amount she had gathered now was nearly unnoticable and she would require much more to create a vessel.

She once again thought over how she had the forethought to expel as much spiritual energy from her body as she could so it would still be accessable when she left it, and so that it wouldn't attempt to heal her body when she was trying to die. She didn't particularly have much else to think about.

All of the sudden it seemed as if everything around her was trembling. It was an odd sensation, the energies of nature quivering against her own. What on earth could make it do that? There was something new among the energy she had sensed through the night since her death. This new thing was strangely familiar. It seemed subdued, like a great power hiding in a smaller vessel, and it's aura seemed distressed but that emotion didn't fit with the rest of the being.

The small vessel of the being seemed to begin unfolding. When it opened to reveal the shape beneath she was suddenly struck with a realisation. The ethereal green shape of massive paws descended upon the soft blues of the water's energy she had gazed upon. Sesshoumaru was at the lake, and quite upset. Was he looking for her? It was a romantic thought.

After tracking her through the forest for hours Sesshoumaru had found himself at a wide lake. Her scent dissapeared into the water and he immediately ran around the perimeter checking for signs of her. He couldn't imagine what could have happened for her to have gone so far, it had to have taken at least a day for a small human to walk as far as he had tracked.

After finding no other trace of her around the lake he started to fear the worst. Clenching his teeth he waded into the water up to his waist and ducked his head underneath the water hoping to catch a glimpse of a sign of her. He cursed himself for never learning to swim in that moment, the lake was twice as deep as he was tall in his true form.

Knowing he would never see the bottom of the lake without relinquishing his humanoid guise so he could at least 'doggy paddle' out to the middle and look into the water, he did just that. His energy quivered against the water and the surrounding flora. The wind created by his swirling essence stirred leaves into falling and as the swirling winds cleared the snow-white form of a floppy-eared dog appeared in the wake of a white haired demon.

He set one great forepaw into the water followed by another. It was strange, now that his spiritual senses weren't under the tight wrap of his guise it was like the water's essence was holding onto Kagome's, almost like a conduit, or what kagome had once described as a 'battery'. He could feel the energy stored in the water as it soaked into his fur and surrounded his body when he descended into the depths of the lake.

Submerging his head beneath the water to try and catch a glimpse of the bottom of the lake. Being emersed in the lake's water felt surprisingly soothing. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling as if Kagome was so very near. Her loosed aura thrummed and slid across his in a soothing caress. He rose his head up out of the water for air and broke the momentary trance.

He never realised she had so much energy, he knew she was powerful but this aura was as large as his own at least. Though she had so much energy he knew she didn't have much practice in controlling such large amounts. She could have over-exerted herself to death expelling this amount of energy. And she hadn't left the lake according to his tracking. He began to try and put it all together. What if.. What if she had gone into the lake and was so tired she started to drown. Her energy would have acted of it's own accord to try and save her. Was all of this just residual energy from a failed attempt to save herself in her exhaustion? But it felt so alive.. like she was still here. By some strange stroke of luck she had to be alright.

He reached the middle of the lake and ducked his head underneath the surface again. He peered down to the bottom of the lake, trying to discern anything through the depths. As he was about to come up for air he caught the tiniest glimpse of something ghostly white standing out against the dark sandy bottom of the lake. Inu's eyes weren't the best and at that moment he almost wished he were a different type of demon. He plowed forward kicking his legs to try and descend lower into the water to get a better look, but being the inexperienced swimmer he was he could only manage to get his back a few feet below the water surface.

Golden eyes scanned over the tiny figure twenty feet below him, through the murky water. He could make out milky white appendages. He felt a clenching in his chest as he was sure it was Kagome's body now. He had to try and get her, to bring her back. This was his fault for letting her wander off. He may have left her but he should have still been there to keep her safe. He clenched his teeth tight hoping the pain in his chest that turned into a burning in his eyes would go away.

He was sure his teeth would crack under the abuse as he inched closer to her. He was now able to make out a grey mass around her chest. He squinted trying to make it out. Was it.. a rock? But how would that get there? It was balanced so perfectly atop her petit rib cage. She couldn't have done it to herself could she? Was it because of him? Because he left. Everything was his fault. It was his fault she was out here, his fault she had died, and now his fault that she had done the deed herself.

His clenched teeth could no longer be held together as an anguished roar ripped through his body, escaping in the form of a rush of bubbles and being drowned out into the water to a mere unsatisfactory rumble. He cried out into the water again, forgetting his need for the precious air he was letting escape in his anguish. With each breath he let out his body became less bouyant and started to sink to the bottom. His paws settled beside the dead form of Kagome and his head sank down heavily next to her as he howled out into the water.

As Kagome saw him struggling to reach her at the bottom of the lake she glided her way to him and wrapped her essence about him trying to sooth him. It didn't seem to have an effect, he was too caught up in seeing her dead to notice she was truly still there, all around him, simply waiting and bideing until she could be with him again.

When he let his air escape in his anguished howls to the obscured sun and layed down beside her at the bottom of the lake she was sure he wouldn't rise again without help. She abandoned gathering the energy for her form, knowing all she had would be needed to get him out of the water again. Him drowning would put a damper on her plans.

He whimpered into the water as he felt her essence curl around him and pillow beneath him, lifting him off the bottom of the lake. As he felt himself being pulled away he could only crane his neck trying to touch his nose to her before he was pulled away for good. A whimper tried to escape him again but he only coughed and sputtered, the loss of air and long stay under the water catching up to him. He paddled his legs trying to reach the surface quicker, not registering the energies helping him up and out of the water.

As his head broke water Kagome realised she couldn't follow. She didn't have enough energy to leave the water yet. She resigned herself to simply guarding her water until she had a form again and simply used her energy to hold him up while trying to conver to him one last message through their aura: "Live on, I'm alright, I'm doing this all for you."

He didn't hear her.

He dragged himself up onto the shore gasping and sputtering. Soon he rose heavily to his feet but his back legs gave out beneath him and fell heavily onto the sandy shore. He raised his great white head to the now amethyst sky and bayed to the emerging moon the anguish of a lost lover. The haunting sound of the great inu's howl lasted late into the night.

And so did it the next night, and the next... and the next. 


	3. Chapter 3 One year Later

A squat little imp followed obediently behind his master. They had made this same journey much as of late, ever since the first night he had heard the howls piercing the night a year ago.

This morning had been a little different. Jaken thought over how they had come to the top of a stone cliff with a small patch of dirt at it's tip. From that small patch moonflower vines sprouted and fell over the edge in a waterfall cascade of silken white and lively green. His lord had knelt down and carefully gathered a bit of the dark soil in his cupped hands. At first Jaken was curious as to why Lord Sesshoumaru would carry dirt away, but then he spotted the tiniest sprout nestled in the soil. It would soon sprout into an emerald vine dotted with pearlescent bell-shaped flowers. Now Jaken had an idea as to why his lord would go through such trouble for this gift.

Now they walked through the midday forest, his lord in front of him reverently cradleing his delicate package in his palms. His eyes never left the tiny sprout, as if he took his eyes off it for a moment it would simply dissapear.

Jaken stopped and settled himself in to wait upon the now well trodden path. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to notice his retainers sudden stop and walked on. Jaken would always wait and give his lord time to mourn in private.

Sesshoumaru arrived at the small grass and sand covered spot at the edge of the lake, the same place Kagome's scent faded into the water. He stared mournfully out at the expanse of water before kneeling down in a grassy space a ways from the waters edge. Each time he came here was a time to reminisce, to think over the small time he had with her, and the time over the last year he had to be without her.

During the first few weeks he had returned everyday. Training himself to swim and trying to reach her. He was sure he had to be amongst the most effecient swimmers now, but something always took him away before he could reach her in the depths of the lake. The closest he had gotten was the day he found her, and even then some unseen force kept him from staying there with her.

He could feel the presence in the lake guarding her. Keeping him from joining her. It whispered to him in the depths. [i]Do not mourn and search for a shell, what lies beneath is not she.[i/] Well what did it know? Who cares if what was in the lake now was just the shell of her, just her body. It was a part of her, that was all that mattered. But alas it kept him away, and she probably would have wanted him to stay so after months and months he stopped trying to reach her.

Sesshoumaru rose from his place, the moonflower sprout nestled into it's place by the shore. He walked to the water's edge, dipping his hands in and washing the soil from the creases in his battle worn hands and from beneath his claws. He could feel the presence of the lake there, watching him. It always watched him. And for all the time it watched, impeded on his private moments of anguish, saved him and kept him from his lost love he couldn't come to hate it. It was resilent and fiery, with an underlying sense of calm that came with age it didn't show. Just like her.

Kagome watched from beneath the water's surface while he knelt at the side of the lake. She had been glad when he finally stopped trying to reach her, it stopped her progress to gather energy many times so that she could save him from joining her. If he were to leave all of her work and sacrifice would be for nought. She wished she could explain it to him now, to tell him he had no reason to worry just the need to wait. She regretted being so rash now, they all probably thought she was dead.

She both admired and appreciated his devotion to her. Seeing him so often strengthened her resolve to complete the arduous task of going on each day in her lonely lake. Sometimes she almost thought he heard her quite whispers. Maybe he only felt the emotion behind them and never really heard her. At least it was something, rather than leaving him truly without her.

He rose to walk away and she flitted off into her lake. Still not able to show herself to him and not wanting to watch him leave, though she knew he would come back. His golden gaze scanned the water one last time, he thought he saw a thin wisp of a blue ribbon before it was once again lost in the murk of the water. He shook himself free of the thought before turning to leave.

Kagome saw the silvery energy contained in the thin sheer cloth that now wove around her essence. She remembered the day six months before when Akitoki had cast it into the lake for her. She was the only one worthy of guarding or wearing such a thing he said. He knew it would fit her someday, for he had mistaken her for tenshi.

The celestial garb followed her into the darkness of the lake under the dusky sky. She would gather energy through the night and until she could once again be with those of the truly living, no matter how long it took. 


	4. Chapter 4 50 Year Later

[Chapter 4] Fifty Years Later

Kagome stared down at the whispy see through appendages that were now her own. Her form was not yet finished, being transparent and ghostlike as it was but she could still use it to see him. Years ago she had mastered the ability to rise above the waters edge, now she could show herself to him. She could be something more than faceless energy and show him what she had done. He had no need to despair anylonger. Her plan had worked!

By her thoughts she was sure he should be comeing that day. He had started only coming once a year, she was alright with that. He thought she was dead, he couldn't dwell on her forever. But now she would see him, she only had to wait. She had waited and bided for so long, what was a few more hours. Soon she felt the vibrations through the earth signaling footsteps. It had to be him, she knew. He was the only one who ever came. She shot forward through the water towards the familiar shore. The celestial garb that had followed her since the day it was dropped into the lake flitted eerily about her form.

An old woman hobbled along the path to the lake she knew her former guardian would be near today. Fifty one years ago Kagome had died and Sesshoumaru stopped visiting Inuyasha's village altogether. Her friends never knew how she died, just that she had passed on. Being old as she was now and knowing the end of her days were near Rin merely wished to see her lord one more time before she went. She smiled as she reached the bank of the crystal clear leake and settled on the stand to wait. No wonder her lord had started coming here so often, the scenery was indeed beautiful.

The old stared out over the water for quite some time before something entered her peripheral vision. She jumped in surprise and turned to see a nude woman standing ankle deep in the water, a blue sheer cloth fleeting eerily in an unnatural breeze around her. She was caught in the saddened ice-blue eyes of the beautiful creature, she could only describe it as Tenshi.

"Who.. Who are you?", she gasped out.

The girl merely smiled sadly while holding her cupped hands between her breasts. "You're not him", she said quietly.

The old woman shook her head, obviously not a 'him'.

"What are you doing here?", the tenshi asked as she stepped forward onto the sand. The old woman had just noticed why she hadn't heard the girl's approach. She wasn't solid, she left no footprints on the sand or ripples on the water while she passed and the forest could be seen through her skin.

"I came to see my lord", the old woman replied still in awe.

Kagome thought over her answer for a moment. What would the woman be doing here? Sesshoumaru was the only one who came to visit regularly, though he was a lord. She looked into the old woman's brown eyes and suddenly realised who she was.

"Rin?"

Rin looked back at the girl before her, suddenly the similarity of the blue eyes and jet black flowing hair struck her. "L.. Lady Kagome?", she ventured hesitantly, "Are you a ghost?"

The Tenshi shook her head with a sad smile as she kneeled down in front of Rin to be closer to her. "No", she affirmed, "I'm still alive. Just... stuck here for a while?", she sighed. "It's hard to explain, but I wanted to be with your lord forever. I no longer possess a mortal body."

Rin listened, still stunned into silence at the revelation that the Lady Kagome was still alive after all this time. When she could finally speak she could only state the obvious, "They all think you're gone... My Lord never told us how but we were all told you were dead...", she trailed off uncertainly.

Kagome nodded, "That was my mistake. I didn't think to tell anyone what happened after he left, being so upset as I was. I regret that now. Though, if you are curious, my mortal body was drowned."

Rin winced at the bluntness of the statement. Though, after living with the fact for fifty-one years one must get used to the facts.

They sat in silence together for a long while after that, both staring out calmly at the lake. After so long there's almost too much to talk about to speak, so they both took the little bit of eachothers presence the other had to give. As the sun was getting well past it's zenith in the sky Kagome broke the silence.

"You have grown old..", she stated obviously. She recieved a nod and a wistful smile from the old woman at her side.

Thoughts and memories of a young girl following a taciturn youkai and tempering his cold heart into something warm. The caring, fatherly expressions flitting across a normally stoic face flashed through her mind's eye. A thought struck her.

"He didn't want to leave you.", another nod, "Do you want to be with him again? To follow him again. He has been alone all this time...", she finished with a sad sigh.

"I am old and my time is coming...", the gravely voice of an old woman reminded her.

"I made my own immortal body, would you not let me attempt to take away the age that has wrought yours? If I succeeded you could be a child again, grow with him. With us if I am able. Will you let me try?"

Aged brown eyes gazed speculatively at the young looking woman beside her. The sad powder blue eyes struck her, they looked so lonely. Stunned into silence once again, not only by the inhuman eyes staring at her but by the feel of the desperately alone aura clinging to her own small human one. She nodded as she shed a single tear for all of the sacrifices of the Shikon Miko.

Rin's eyes closed as she felt the warm aura that was Kagome against her face. The see through hands hovered over her cheeks. A warmth engulfed her body and she felt the effects of age slowly leave her body. Her old bent bones began to straighten, the aches and creaks in her joints dissapeared, the wrinkles folded into her skin from many years of rhythmic movements dissapeared as she regained her youth. With her eyes still held lightly closed she did not see how the once crisp image of the Shikon Miko blurred and faded to that of a ruined watercolor painting.

She winced as the once warm sensations of her body regressing warped. She could feel things being taken now, memories slowly slipping away and became obscure, strength of a young body fading to that of a babe's, and the powerful young aura faded into the small one of a newborn.

Kagome looked over the child cradled in the clothes she arrived in. She used the weight of her aura to push the cloth closer around her form to keep the child warm before taking in her own state. At least she still had an image, she thought, as she looked down at her now misty, peach tinted appendages. She didn't regret giving what she had. She slowly backed into the water, much of her energy was taken and she needed to rest before she saw Sesshoumaru again.

OOO

Sesshoumaru stood off to the side of the well traveled human road. The same place he had last seen her alive. He looked sadly at the now well worn path from the road into the forest to the lake he had dubbed as 'Kagome's'. His decision pained him but he would not go this year.

Fifty years he had despaired with out her now. If he had stayed with her and she lived she would have passed by now as well. So it should be only fitting that he stop dwelling on her now right? He felt a twinge where his heart was as he turned from his path back to his way home, his imp retainer staring disbelievingly at him from where he stood at the begining of the path.

He could see the old imp's frowning expression in his mind as he heard the small whisper, "You shouldn't go milord." Jaken could never speak out with any vehemence against his Lord's actions, but he just had this feeling that now wasn't the time for him to leave.

The demon clad in white never stopped walking away into the forest away from Kagome's lake.

OOO

Kagome watched the sky from her resting place in the lake as she waited for the familiar caress of his aura against her own. The sun continued it's slow descent from the skies to the horizon undeterred. She waited silently, and waited, and waited... Soon the sky stained with hues of purple and orange stared back at her.

She questioned herself sadly for the hundredth time since she left Rin on the bank. Why wasn't he here yet? Finally the answer she had been pushing back and denying crawled forward into her concsious thought. He isn't coming.

She ascended to the sandy bank of the lake once again. He wasn't coming but she still had to get rin somewhere safe. She reached down with ghostly limbs and used the strength of her aura to hold the tiny child against her. She stepped onto the path Sesshoumaru usually took through the forest. She hoped to find someone to take care of the child she couldn't fulfill her promise to.

OOO

Jaken sat against the tree he always sat against when they usually came to visit Lady Kagome. Even if his Lord left he couldn't bring himself to not pay his respects to the Shikon Miko. He stared up at the fading light in the sky, soon to be replaced by soft burning of other solar system's suns. His bulbous ochre eyes glazed over with sadness as he thought of his Lord's lost happiness.

He turned his head down to stare at the dirt at his feet. His eyes drifted closed as he clutched his staff to his chest. So many things had gone well for a short while, but then they all went wrong again.

Starting as he felt the prick of a powerful aura against his own he stood and started looking around for the source. He gasped and his limbs quivered as he saw the ghostly figure floating down the path from the lake towards him. The blue cloth clutched close to it's chest hid it's prescious package.

Jaken's entire body shook with trepidation as he watched the form come closer. His eyes misted with tears as he was struck with a stark feeling of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. Momentarily breaking from his daze he dropped his staff and darted forward just as the image fell to the ground and he caught it's carefully cradled package. He was lost to his daze again as he met the sorrow filled but relieved shocking blue eyes.

The world had fallen silent around the three figures. Tiny tears slid over Jaken's cheek and down his beaklike nose as an aura wrapped around him and passed along the feeling of gratitude. He finally looked down at the package he so carefully cradled and gasped as a bemused chocolate gaze looked back at him before the tiny child giggled.

As if the sound started the world moving again he heard the far off whisper on the wind of 'Thank you' before he watched the peach colored, blue-eyed image of the tenshi dissipate and drift away like a fog hanging low to the ground. He momentarily thought of following but before he could move the fog was gone back towards the lake and out of his reach. He moved to sit on the ground next to his discarded staff and he cradled the babe in his lap awkwardly as he continued to cry silently and rock back and forth. He couldn't tell why or what he was crying for but he still couldn't stop.

Sesshoumaru found them there late into the night, the imp still rocking back and forth. He wondered where the child had come from and why it had delayed his retainer. Kneeling down next to the near catatonic imp he took in the child's scent. His eyes hooded in confusion as he picked the child up in his arms. She smelled of Rin and the lingering scent of old human clung to the kimono she was wrapped in, as well as the faint scent of clean water and Kagome.

"What sorcery is this?", he whispered to himself as he carefully touched the child's sleeping face. As much as it could be a cruel trick Sesshoumaru couldn't shake the urge to care for the child and keep it. His retainer finally speaking prompted to look at the imp in wonder.

"Tenshi, milord. Tenshi." He followed the imp's dazed gaze down the worn path to the lake. He then stood with the child in his arms and turned back towards home. If tenshi saw fit to give him a memory of his lost happiness he would not be so foolish as to throw it away again. He and his loyal retainer walked silently through the moonlit forest, their entourage once again happily weighed down by a third member.

If they had stayed they would have heard the saddened wails of a lost Tenshi, left alone once again after making a great sacrifice. [Chapter 4] Fifty Years Later

Kagome stared down at the whispy see through appendages that were now her own. Her form was not yet finished, being transparent and ghostlike as it was but she could still use it to see him. Years ago she had mastered the ability to rise above the waters edge, now she could show herself to him. She could be something more than faceless energy and show him what she had done. He had no need to despair anylonger. Her plan had worked!

By her thoughts she was sure he should be comeing that day. He had started only coming once a year, she was alright with that. He thought she was dead, he couldn't dwell on her forever. But now she would see him, she only had to wait. She had waited and bided for so long, what was a few more hours. Soon she felt the vibrations through the earth signaling footsteps. It had to be him, she knew. He was the only one who ever came. She shot forward through the water towards the familiar shore. The celestial garb that had followed her since the day it was dropped into the lake flitted eerily about her form.

An old woman hobbled along the path to the lake she knew her former guardian would be near today. Fifty one years ago Kagome had died and Sesshoumaru stopped visiting Inuyasha's village altogether. Her friends never knew how she died, just that she had passed on. Being old as she was now and knowing the end of her days were near Rin merely wished to see her lord one more time before she went. She smiled as she reached the bank of the crystal clear leake and settled on the stand to wait. No wonder her lord had started coming here so often, the scenery was indeed beautiful.

The old stared out over the water for quite some time before something entered her peripheral vision. She jumped in surprise and turned to see a nude woman standing ankle deep in the water, a blue sheer cloth fleeting eerily in an unnatural breeze around her. She was caught in the saddened ice-blue eyes of the beautiful creature, she could only describe it as Tenshi.

"Who.. Who are you?", she gasped out.

The girl merely smiled sadly while holding her cupped hands between her breasts. "You're not him", she said quietly.

The old woman shook her head, obviously not a 'him'.

"What are you doing here?", the tenshi asked as she stepped forward onto the sand. The old woman had just noticed why she hadn't heard the girl's approach. She wasn't solid, she left no footprints on the sand or ripples on the water while she passed and the forest could be seen through her skin.

"I came to see my lord", the old woman replied still in awe.

Kagome thought over her answer for a moment. What would the woman be doing here? Sesshoumaru was the only one who came to visit regularly, though he was a lord. She looked into the old woman's brown eyes and suddenly realised who she was.

"Rin?"

Rin looked back at the girl before her, suddenly the similarity of the blue eyes and jet black flowing hair struck her. "L.. Lady Kagome?", she ventured hesitantly, "Are you a ghost?"

The Tenshi shook her head with a sad smile as she kneeled down in front of Rin to be closer to her. "No", she affirmed, "I'm still alive. Just... stuck here for a while?", she sighed. "It's hard to explain, but I wanted to be with your lord forever. I no longer possess a mortal body."

Rin listened, still stunned into silence at the revelation that the Lady Kagome was still alive after all this time. When she could finally speak she could only state the obvious, "They all think you're gone... My Lord never told us how but we were all told you were dead...", she trailed off uncertainly.

Kagome nodded, "That was my mistake. I didn't think to tell anyone what happened after he left, being so upset as I was. I regret that now. Though, if you are curious, my mortal body was drowned."

Rin winced at the bluntness of the statement. Though, after living with the fact for fifty-one years one must get used to the facts.

They sat in silence together for a long while after that, both staring out calmly at the lake. After so long there's almost too much to talk about to speak, so they both took the little bit of eachothers presence the other had to give. As the sun was getting well past it's zenith in the sky Kagome broke the silence.

"You have grown old..", she stated obviously. She recieved a nod and a wistful smile from the old woman at her side.

Thoughts and memories of a young girl following a taciturn youkai and tempering his cold heart into something warm. The caring, fatherly expressions flitting across a normally stoic face flashed through her mind's eye. A thought struck her.

"He didn't want to leave you.", another nod, "Do you want to be with him again? To follow him again. He has been alone all this time...", she finished with a sad sigh.

"I am old and my time is coming...", the gravely voice of an old woman reminded her.

"I made my own immortal body, would you not let me attempt to take away the age that has wrought yours? If I succeeded you could be a child again, grow with him. With us if I am able. Will you let me try?"

Aged brown eyes gazed speculatively at the young looking woman beside her. The sad powder blue eyes struck her, they looked so lonely. Stunned into silence once again, not only by the inhuman eyes staring at her but by the feel of the desperately alone aura clinging to her own small human one. She nodded as she shed a single tear for all of the sacrifices of the Shikon Miko.

Rin's eyes closed as she felt the warm aura that was Kagome against her face. The see through hands hovered over her cheeks. A warmth engulfed her body and she felt the effects of age slowly leave her body. Her old bent bones began to straighten, the aches and creaks in her joints dissapeared, the wrinkles folded into her skin from many years of rhythmic movements dissapeared as she regained her youth. With her eyes still held lightly closed she did not see how the once crisp image of the Shikon Miko blurred and faded to that of a ruined watercolor painting.

She winced as the once warm sensations of her body regressing warped. She could feel things being taken now, memories slowly slipping away and became obscure, strength of a young body fading to that of a babe's, and the powerful young aura faded into the small one of a newborn.

Kagome looked over the child cradled in the clothes she arrived in. She used the weight of her aura to push the cloth closer around her form to keep the child warm before taking in her own state. At least she still had an image, she thought, as she looked down at her now misty, peach tinted appendages. She didn't regret giving what she had. She slowly backed into the water, much of her energy was taken and she needed to rest before she saw Sesshoumaru again.

OOO

Sesshoumaru stood off to the side of the well traveled human road. The same place he had last seen her alive. He looked sadly at the now well worn path from the road into the forest to the lake he had dubbed as 'Kagome's'. His decision pained him but he would not go this year.

Fifty years he had despaired with out her now. If he had stayed with her and she lived she would have passed by now as well. So it should be only fitting that he stop dwelling on her now right? He felt a twinge where his heart was as he turned from his path back to his way home, his imp retainer staring disbelievingly at him from where he stood at the begining of the path.

He could see the old imp's frowning expression in his mind as he heard the small whisper, "You shouldn't go milord." Jaken could never speak out with any vehemence against his Lord's actions, but he just had this feeling that now wasn't the time for him to leave.

The demon clad in white never stopped walking away into the forest away from Kagome's lake.

OOO

Kagome watched the sky from her resting place in the lake as she waited for the familiar caress of his aura against her own. The sun continued it's slow descent from the skies to the horizon undeterred. She waited silently, and waited, and waited... Soon the sky stained with hues of purple and orange stared back at her.

She questioned herself sadly for the hundredth time since she left Rin on the bank. Why wasn't he here yet? Finally the answer she had been pushing back and denying crawled forward into her concsious thought. He isn't coming.

She ascended to the sandy bank of the lake once again. He wasn't coming but she still had to get rin somewhere safe. She reached down with ghostly limbs and used the strength of her aura to hold the tiny child against her. She stepped onto the path Sesshoumaru usually took through the forest. She hoped to find someone to take care of the child she couldn't fulfill her promise to.

OOO

Jaken sat against the tree he always sat against when they usually came to visit Lady Kagome. Even if his Lord left he couldn't bring himself to not pay his respects to the Shikon Miko. He stared up at the fading light in the sky, soon to be replaced by soft burning of other solar system's suns. His bulbous ochre eyes glazed over with sadness as he thought of his Lord's lost happiness.

He turned his head down to stare at the dirt at his feet. His eyes drifted closed as he clutched his staff to his chest. So many things had gone well for a short while, but then they all went wrong again.

Starting as he felt the prick of a powerful aura against his own he stood and started looking around for the source. He gasped and his limbs quivered as he saw the ghostly figure floating down the path from the lake towards him. The blue cloth clutched close to it's chest hid it's prescious package.

Jaken's entire body shook with trepidation as he watched the form come closer. His eyes misted with tears as he was struck with a stark feeling of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. Momentarily breaking from his daze he dropped his staff and darted forward just as the image fell to the ground and he caught it's carefully cradled package. He was lost to his daze again as he met the sorrow filled but relieved shocking blue eyes.

The world had fallen silent around the three figures. Tiny tears slid over Jaken's cheek and down his beaklike nose as an aura wrapped around him and passed along the feeling of gratitude. He finally looked down at the package he so carefully cradled and gasped as a bemused chocolate gaze looked back at him before the tiny child giggled.

As if the sound started the world moving again he heard the far off whisper on the wind of 'Thank you' before he watched the peach colored, blue-eyed image of the tenshi dissipate and drift away like a fog hanging low to the ground. He momentarily thought of following but before he could move the fog was gone back towards the lake and out of his reach. He moved to sit on the ground next to his discarded staff and he cradled the babe in his lap awkwardly as he continued to cry silently and rock back and forth. He couldn't tell why or what he was crying for but he still couldn't stop.

Sesshoumaru found them there late into the night, the imp still rocking back and forth. He wondered where the child had come from and why it had delayed his retainer. Kneeling down next to the near catatonic imp he took in the child's scent. His eyes hooded in confusion as he picked the child up in his arms. She smelled of Rin and the lingering scent of old human clung to the kimono she was wrapped in, as well as the faint scent of clean water and Kagome.

"What sorcery is this?", he whispered to himself as he carefully touched the child's sleeping face. As much as it could be a cruel trick Sesshoumaru couldn't shake the urge to care for the child and keep it. His retainer finally speaking prompted to look at the imp in wonder.

"Tenshi, milord. Tenshi." He followed the imp's dazed gaze down the worn path to the lake. He then stood with the child in his arms and turned back towards home. If tenshi saw fit to give him a memory of his lost happiness he would not be so foolish as to throw it away again. He and his loyal retainer walked silently through the moonlit forest, their entourage once again happily weighed down by a third member.

If they had stayed they would have heard the saddened wails of a lost Tenshi, left alone once again after making a great sacrifice. 


	5. Chapter 5 The Life of Rin

[Chapter 5] Dedicated to WhiteRose-Kurama: The life of Rin

The youkai nobles watched in silence as he settled in his seat beside his mother. He needed to be called to this meeting since he was an influential lord, but he refused to leave the little child alone for the hours during their meeting. The tiny babe was nestled safely in the crook of his right arm, sleeping peacefully and none the wiser as to the attention she drew.

Hours passed and she never interrupted. When she did wake she would spend her time brushing uncoordinated tiny fingers through a stray bit of hair before she fell asleep again clutching to the silvery lock. All took notice to the tiny glances Sesshoumaru would send the girl. The viligance with which he watched over her, constantly checking her comfort level, didn't escape the nobles and they had to wonder who she was to mean so much to him. He hadn't doted over a child like this since the girl he left in a human village half a century ago.

OOO

A young girl scurried about the small space in the forest they decided to take a rest for in that day. She danced around barefoot in the grass while holding her arms out and pretending she was flying. Her cheerful giggles carried the forest and danced around the pointed ears of her ChiChi-ue. She stopped for a moment and stared off into the forest, never losing her happy smile.

"ChiChi-ue? Can we go that way?", she pointed off into the forest. Before recieving her answer she slowly wandered past the vague treeline into the direction she felt an odd pull. There was something familiar about this place, she just couldn't get her finger on it.

Golden eyes slitted open as he heard the suddle shifts of the tree branches as the girl left the clearing. He looked over in the direction she was walking and furrowed his eyebrows as he stood. "Kohana", he called.

She turned to him and smiled as she beckoned him forward, "ChiChi-ue! ChiChi-ue! This way come on!", she called to him.

He took a few steps forward trying to think why she would be so avid about running off that way. He followed her at a leisurely pace while trying to think what was ahead, since he was familiar with this area. It wasn't toward the village: he'd smell that. It wasn't towards the road: that was too far. His foot stilled mid step as he realised where she was going.

"Kohana, come back", he said in a hard tone, knowing the girl would obey. She frowned before walking back to him and followed him to the clearing without protest.

She had run off in the direction of the lake... He wasn't sure how she knew it was that way but some how she must. He wanted to be close to it today because it was an anniversary of the day he found her with Jaken but he still had no wish to face the lake again.

He walked back to their home in silence, Kohana frowning in consternation as she followed. All the way he pondered what happened and hoped he would never lose his precious Kohana to the lake as well.

OOO

An old woman layed silently on the futon before him. He kneeled at her side holding he wrinkled hand in his unblemished clawed one. Her breathing was labored and her time was close. He would miss her, but he had stayed at her side this time. He was always there for her, forever her ChiChi-ue. She would leave this world happy, knowing she lived a full life. Her ChiChi-ue and her two children at her side 'til the end, she would follow her love into the afterlife.

"ChiChi-ue... I remember now...", her voice was quiet as the old long forgotten memories flashed in her mind. "There was a pretty lake... and the lady there...", what was her name? She just couldn't remember the lady's name. "She was like Tenshi, ChiChi-ue...", a quiet sigh escaped her. "You would have thought she was really pretty too... ChiChi..", her voice faded into the background of time as life left her old body.

Sesshoumaru stared down at her in silence as he brushed his thumb lightly over the hand he was still holding. He tried to push her words to the back of his mind and write them off as the ramblings of a woman near death.

At the request of WhiteRose - Kurama I have decided to add a chapter focusing on Rins life. I realised I had left it very vague and thought I would give you readers a little something.

I'm sorry Rose and SayaHaji1648 but I won't be doing a sequal :( I decided before I finished the fic that I couldn't do more past her reuniting with Sesshoumaru because it would take away from the ethereal, immortal being essence her character develoed through out the story if I put her in a modern life-like setting. I hope this is enough for you and I thank you for inspiring me to write this chapter.

MontiK


	6. Chapter 6 400 Years Later

[Chapter 5] 400 years later?

The sparkling essence of champagne poured over the edge of the green-glassed bottle to fall onto the white sand. Slowly the alcoholic beverage soaked in leaving a solitary damp spot on the otherwise dry sand at the edge of the lake. A group of boisterous business men stood around the bottle talking animatedly about various subjects. Another man gleefully pounded thick wooden stakes into the ground nearby and then stapled the large artist's rendition of what the new buildings would look like when they were done.

An hour passed as they stood their, making their noise and then leaving the dirty bottle carelessly tossed into the reeds not far from the bank. They bid their farwells to one another, herded back into their swanky cars, and were soon on their way back to the city. All except for one. He took off his tight leather shoes and long black socks and sat on the white sand looking out over the placid lake. He smiled to himself as he imagined the resort buildings, beutiful and white they would be, built around the curve of the otherwise untouched lake and how much money they would bring him.

He stared at the water where it met the sand closest to him, momentarily marveling in the absolute clarity of the water and how the stark white sand contrasted with the bluish water. The gentles ripples he spotted that seemed to go slightly against the rest in the lake were chalked up to a mere change in the wind as he rose to his feet and wiped the dry sand from his suit pants. As he turned to go back to his car a melodious, haunting voice called out to him.

"Would you really destroy all of my hard work, and my home? So easily, without a second thought?", the whispered words made him stop. Not out of need to speak to the unknown person but out of nervousness and fear. There wasn't anyone there a second ago, and the ethereal quality the voice carried sent shivers down his spin and goosebumps erupted over his skin.

He turned his head slowly to look where the voice came from. His throat constricted at the sight that met him. There stood a nude woman, a blue whisp of energy that resembled sheer cloth flowing on a wind that only existed for her. Her raven black hair fell down her back and poured into the water like black ink that refused to meld completely with the lake. Her painfully honest gaze focused back at him, the clear azure of her eyes matching that of the water that danced around her ankles.

When he was too awed to answer her she spoke again.

"Do you have so little regard for what Kami have put here? Do you care so little for what the old have done so much to protect that you would destroy it so callously for a few more yen?" He didn't answer again, staring wide-eyed and silent at her for a seemingly endless spanse of time.

Then he answered, his voice quiet and hesitant. "Yo... You wish for me to call of the build?", he received an affirmitave. "Why?", he asked, not knowing what else to say.

She raised her left hand, the green glass champagne bottle balanced carefully in the delicate clutch of her fingers. "Beauty, hard earned is easiy destroyed. I have guarded this place for centuries, would you force me to leave it all behind now?"

He continued to stare back at her, thinking. He realised he would never be able to deny her anything she asked of him. So he walked slowly to the edge of the water, sat down cross-legged in the sand once again, and he asked her a question. "Would you tell me how you came to be?"

The smile he recieved struck a chord in his heart. He couldn't fathom the depths and time it woud take to make one so beautiful smile so sadly. She kneeled in front of him, nestling the bottle into the sand in front of him, and she told him her tale.

OOO

Pale hands held onto the gray coarse paper of the yesterdays post. He glared at the article in the business section. The lake side property he had watched over for years had finally been put on the market by the government and another company offered far more than his own up and coming real-estate company, thus aquiring the property. He threw the paper across the room, watching it flutter to the floor. He ran his hands through his black hair and shut his eyes tight against the oncoming headache.

Just as he thought he might get some peace his office foor flew open. His secretary quickly scurried in and dropped his concealment spell before beginning his excited squaking. "Milord! Milord!", he shouted excitedy as he reached the side of the swiveling chair. He happily brandished the morning's post that had just been delivered. "Look, look!"

Sesshoumaru dropped his conceament spell as well and reached forward with a now clawed hand to the business section. In the same place where the announcement to build the new resort was yesterday there was now a notice that the plans had been recinded a wildlife preserve would be in it's place. Curious as to the drastic change of heart from the new land-owner he read on. His eyes widened as he reached the quote from the land-owner, Takeo-san, stating that 'Tenshi came to him and told him the lake should be preserved and not exploited'. The mention of Tenshi in conjunction with Kagome's lake tickled something in the back of his mind. He was saved from trying to remember by his retainer.

"I told you milord! I told you there was something in that lake! We should have gone back. We should have never left in the first place. Tenshi lived there and she probably could have told you of the Lady Kagome!", he gasped for breath and paused before continueing his barrage in a quieter tone. "Will we go back now, Lord Sesshoumaru? If this Takeo-san summoned the Tenshi some how I'm sure you could milord.."

Sesshoumaru sighed at the ramblings of the little imp as he turned in his swivel shair back to his desk. "I will think on it", he said quietly.

Jaken leapt and squawked happily as he placed the now rumpled paper on the corner of the desk to be read later. They both put their concealment spells in place as Jaken reached a hand towards the door. He paused for a moment before turning back to the tired looking man sitting at the desk. Jaken momentarily thought over all that happened the last few centuries and how the stress of guilt and loss seemed to be catching up with his lord.

"Milord?", his voice was barely above a whisper, "If I may speak freely...", knowing that the pen had stopped moving across the paper was a sign to go ahead he continued, "I hope that you hurry your decision to go to the lake, milord. No one waits forever, not even Tenshi." With that he quietly stepped through the door and closed it behind him with a soft 'click'.

He didn't see the Sesshoumaru's shoulders slumped heavily and he sagged over his desk, laying his forehead down on the laquered surface. 


	7. Chapter 7 20 Years Later

[Chapter 6] 20 years later Yemonmaru Nagataka

A quiet wind rippled over the placid waters of the old lake. The full branches of the surrounding trees danced along, synchronized with the lake as if it were all a chorerographed ballet. Their only audience walking down the now wide and well-traveled path from the road.

A young woman held the elbow of her elderly father as he took carefully measured steps down the dirt path. Beside them their silent companion walked, matching their slow pace with no complaint. Despite his age the old man was still quite cheery on such an occasion.

"We are pleased you have taken an interest in a sanctuary Nagataka-san. I was delighted when my daughter told me you wished to see the Tenshi's lake.", he grinned at the young man, "Come to see if the tenshi will speak with you?"

Over the many years since it was said that a Tenshi lived in the ageless lake many had come to see if they could summon her from the depths. Most were dissapointed and saw no Tenshi but many still offered their prayer to the spirits of nature in the sanctuary. The young girl let one hand raise from her father's arm to caress the one pearl earring she wore with a sense of nostalgia. She remembered the one time she had seen the Tenshi as a little girl.

Playing by the water side and splashing around she took notice to the small shift in the water not far from her. When she looked intently at the water she noticed what looked to be some cloth floating gently on the surface. Wading into the water up to her knees she reached out and plucked the tiny perfect pearl from on top of the cloth. As she examined it a shift in the water once again drew her attention. Through the clear water of the lake she could see a smiling young woman looking back at her, her expression one of quiet joy. The little girl waved in awe just before the woman flitted away back into the depths.

She was brought from her memory as the lake came into view and the low baritone voice of the companion came in a whisper, "Takeo-san, please call me Yemonmaru. You did business with my father for many years before, there is no need for such formality between us."

The old man's smile widened before he answered in an equaly quiet voice not wishing to disturb the sight before them, "Thank you Yemonmaru-san, We have arrived."

They all walked to stand on the fine white sand surrounding the lake. Yemonmaru continued to the shoreline until his black leather shoes were just barely out of the water. He turned his eyes took the skies and took a deep breath of the clean air. His eyes hooded in pleasure, though he was quite surprised. The lake smelled clean and untouched as it had in the Feudal Era and it also still smelled of Kagome. He had to wonder if it was not some work of this 'Tenshi' or some other way the fates sought immortalize her in such a way. Even in his four-hundred and twenty year absence it smelled as if she had walked around the lake only the day before.

At the gentle coaxing of the old man behind him he kneeled at the water's edge, heedless of the dampness seeping into the knee of his pant leg. Acting on instinct he attempted to call forth the Tenshi. He closed his eyes and touched his finger-tips to the water. Slowly he submerged his whole handing, reaching towards some force calling to him in his mind.

The previously placid wind kicked up around him. It swirled about exploring him for only a second, but the haunting scent of his love it carried made it seem like an eternal cage. As the wind left it smelled as if Kagome could have been standing there right in front of him. He kept his eyes closed for as long as his curiousity would allow, afraid of what he might see when he opened them.

Gazing down at the water he was sure he would be forever haunted by her spirit. The now calm surface of the lake reflected the image of Kagome staring down at him, her espression condescending and speculative. His chest tightened and he looked up to see her truly standing there before him, her only adornment the celestial garb. He wondered for a moment if this Tenshi were simply taunting him as he watched her step forward without disturbing the water.

She kneeled before him and clasped his chin, holding him still as her crystal blue eyes bore into his muddled brown. She took in the short cropped black hair and the tanned yellowish skin with a frown. She rose abruptly using the light hold on his chin to pull him up with her.

He looked down at her from his now taller position. Shocked into silence he couldn't say anything, and if he could he wouldn't have known what to say. She was there... she could have been there the entire time he had mourned her and he was the one who left. The way she frowned at him made his gut twist, maybe she hated him now?

The small supple hand slid from his chin down his throat to rest in the middle of his chest, fingertips barely making contact with the silk shirt. "Lies", came her quiet whisper before the wave of her power washed over him like pebbles pelted at fragile glass. The human guise hiding his true nature slipped away like thin tissue torn asunder in her winds. The business suit slipped away with it, leaving the demon beneath standing in his pale skin and maroon markings before the blue eyed tenshi.

The way her frown dissappeared and faded into a sorrowful smile lightened his heart. His breath caught as she leaned closer to him, her lips almost brushing his. Lost in her eyes, her quiest whisper almost escaped him.

"Would you deny me a third time? Sesshoumaru..."

His heart leapt and he was able to move again. One hand reached up to cup her cheek and his fingers were buried in her hair, the other held onto the smooth skin on her hip.

"Never", he whispered vehemently as he pulled her lips to his.

Their forgotten company stood stunned on the bank behind them. The old man's eyes wide as he trembled and his daughter beside him watched with teary eyes. They were blessed with such a sight by kami. They now knew a true story of love coming across centuries in time, and old magics would never really die.

Sesshoumaru held tight to his Tenshi and never let her go. They spent eternity making up for four-hundred years lost.

~Fin~ 


End file.
